Fasst Focaccia

Believe it or not I've NEVER made bread from scratch. It's lame I know. There's something about all that waiting while things rise that make me lazy and honestly, impatient. But the other day I found this recipe and literally had 3 hrs before dinner time so I decided to give it a try. 

It was easy, not a lot of waiting around and I was able to make it work even without having a bread mixer. After a few days, when it was a little stale, I cut up the rest and made croutons for salad. Give it a try tonight - you still have time!

Here is the recipe from the Blog Becoming Chef Nini

FAVE THINGS: Trader Joe's

I don't knot about you, but I can't do all my grocery shopping in one place. I go to different places for different things. Safeway is where I get my basics, New Seasons is where I get fish, fresh bread and special ingredients, and Trader Joe's is where I get special treats. I want to share with you a few of my fave things from TJ's, staples I think you should get everytime you go there:

_Blue Corn Tortilla Chips & Pico de Gallo Salsa

I love these chips because they are really thin, have great flavor and are not too salty. I haven't found a better Pico de Gallo anywhere, it tastes SO fresh so can take it to a party and tell people you made it! Usually get 2 at a time.

_Pot Stickers

These are great to have when you have unexpected guests or when you want to add a little something to your dinner. I make a simple dipping sauce for them: Mix 2 tbs soy sauce + 2 tbs water + 1/8 tsp peanut oil + Sriracha sauce to hotness desired. Mix and serve.

_Edamame

Edamame is a great snack to have around because it's high on protein and super easy to make. For an easy lunch, make some miso soup, edamame and a few pot stickers.

_Nuts

Cashews, almonds and trail mix galore. They have the best selection!

_Peanut Butter
They have tons of options (roasted, salted, crunchy) and they are all really good. It's my fave brand peanut butter brand.

_Frozen Fruit

It's well priced and they have great varieties. I love the mango and the mixed berries to make smoothies.

_Other goodies:

Wine (they have bottles from $4!), flowers (pretty cheap and usually last the whole week) & cookies (tons of varieties to choose from - but not good if you're on a diet).

Do YOU have any TJ's favorites? Tell me about them!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

For the past few weeks, a couple of friends and I have been doing something called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from a farm called Gardenripe here in OR. How does it work? We get one box of produce a week with a variety of organic veggies, mostly leafy greens (kale, rainbow chard, lettuce) and sometimes some amazing berries. 

My favorites where the blueberries, I froze some (see best technique for freezing berries here) and made some baked goods. First I made some blueberry/corn muffins and they where great. But then I made these blueberry crum bars that where just amazing!

Here is the RECIPE (from Smitten Kitchen), it's super easy and i just loved the crumb mix - you can use it with SO many other fruits, cherries would be great... maybe peaches? Hurry up and make some today!

NOTE : Keep them in the fridge - they will last longer. Also, I warmed them up a bit at night and served them with ice cream as dessert! 

Crabs with fennel & tomato broth

Last weekend I was going through one of my Sunset Magazines and saw this super yummy picture of crabs with a tomato stew. My hubby took one look and agreed with me: we HAD to make it that night. We both love crabs and we've had it many times but never cooked them ourselves or bought them live.

We decided to get them from this asian fish market, they have a great selection of fresh crabs, lobsters and fish. We picked our 2 crabs and home we went. We pretty much just googled "how to cook live crabs" and found a super easy way to do it. Then I followed the recipe from the mag and added some delicious crusty bread. 

FOR THE CRABS

_We followed this directions on boiling live crab.

_We also follows this directions on how to remove the crab meat from the shell. It's messy and weird but go for it! We added the meat from the shells to the sauce, and kept the legs and claws on the side so we could crack them individually and dipped them in the sauce.

FOR THE FENNEL-TOMATO BROTH

Ingredients::

_ 3  celery stalks, trimmed and cut in half

_ 1/2  small white onion, quartered

_ 1  small fennel bulb, quartered (I only used half, not crazy about the licorice smell)

_ 1  tablespoon  olive oil
_ 1  cup  dry white wine

_ 1  can (14 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes

_ 1/4  teaspoon  red chile flakes

_ 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt

_ 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

_ Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves

_ 2  cooked crabs (1 1/2 lbs. each)

Directions::

_ In a food processor, chop celery, onion, and fennel

_ Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, add vegetables, and cook until softened, stirring often, about 7 minutes 

_ Add wine, 1 cup water, tomatoes, chile flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook, covered, 8 to 10 minutes to let flavors develop 

_ Add the crab meat (from the shell) and cook, covered, stirring often, until warm and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl and top with parsley

NOTES::

_ We served this with a nice baguette that I warmed up in the oven, great for dipping in the sauce!

Overall it was SUPER easy and didn't take too long. If you like crabs I totally recommend you try this recipe!

TOP CHEF TOUR

Even if you're a big fan of the show you might have not heard about this awesome Tour they are doing, there's not a lot of press for it. I found out about it on bravotv.com and read about it on how2heroes blog - it sounded super fun and a great way to learn more about my fave show so I had to go.

This is how it works: Two chefs from past seasons show up, demo a dish and then let you ask them ANY questions you want. The set up is small (no more than 60 people) and everyone gets to try the food. I grabbed a front row seat and really enjoyed watching them cook and talking about the show. They also sell tons of merchandise, have some games, and silly cut ups of Padma & Colicchio you can take pictures with.

The two chefs that came to PDX where from season 3: Brian Malarkey and Chris "CJ" Jacobsen. They where super nice and laid back. CJ was the one that cooked, his dish had a LOT of components but it was all really good:

_Slow cooked Lamb

_Apricots with a bacon, sugar and sheri marinade

_Salad of radishes, parsley, lemon and olive oil

_Sauteed garlic spears

_Wilted lettuce

Want to know some of the show inside scoop?

_They are totally sequestered throughout the show, no TV, no music, no books, no magazines... NO phone calls home! After they get kicked off they move to another house and its pretty much the same until they're done filming.

_The challenges are pretty much back to back, they don't get ANY days off (my question).

_The's a lot of "hurry up and wait". After they're given a challenge, they might wait up to 2 hrs in the van while the camera crew sets up at the Whole Foods before they can go in and buy t. They said it messes up with them because they have way too much time to over think their dishes.

_Food gets cold by the time whey present to the judges and they just have to deal with it.

_The judges deliberate for hours... at least 4-5. They are stuck in that room with tons of alcohol and nothing to do... how boring is that?

_They said they where going to try and check out Pok Pok and Le Pigeon while they where in town.

That's pretty much it! It was super fun and I can't wait for next season... starts next week!

Thanks to my girl Amanda from meals apart for getting us tickets :)